"The OP's speakers are rated to 100w, and he is using a 140w amp. For a 3db increase he would need a 280w amp. Do you really think that is suitable for his speaker?"
I must have missed what speakers the OP has because I thought this thread was to find a new pair. That said, you're not going win me over with specs like this. Given what was said in the earlier posts, it looks like we are in agreement that amp specs are very unreliable. Given that, if his speakers are rated at 100 watts, that still leaves me with the same question; who's watts are we talking about? Then to go on about needing 10x the power to get an additional 3db in volume. Of course, we all know that, and it sounds like a reasonable argument, but its not that relevant in this case.
"Do you really think that is suitable for his speaker? Sure he could get a 150w Ayre V5 like yours, and things may improve in dynamics, but not volume, and it's not in his budget."
Again, I'm not sure exactly what speaker we are talking about, but my answer is going to be almost certainly, yes. An Ayre like I have would probably be worth the extra money. Not to get too side tracked, but in my main system, I actually have 2 Ayre V-5's vertical biamping a pair of Vandersteen 2's. That's over 10k in amplification for a pair of 2k speakers. I'm a very big believer in the concept of putting my money where my mouth is. (And if you haven't noticed I have a pretty big mouth and it needs all the help git can get.) All I'm getting at here, is that I'm not telling someone to do something that I wouldn't do myself.
Back to comparing the Sony to the Ayre. My claim is that volume isn't the relevant factor here. Because at 10x power for 3db in volume, we're talking about total volume. Both amps can produce x db of noise. For a meaningful comparison, the volume of specific frequencies must be considered. Using a run of the mill, full range floor standing speaker, aprox 88-90db that doesn't drop too far down to make it a very difficult load, as an example. As the frequencies get lower, my Sony receiver will not be able to produce those frequencies at a consistently level volume. It will continue to struggle until at some point, it isn't even able to produce the frequencies at all. The Ayre, on the other hand, will have no problem driving the speaker at all frequencies. That's the real difference in power that you won't see by looking at the specs. Also remember that I'm not even touching on the subjective qualities, that at least for me, will justify the Ayre's price.
"Using his 140w amp on a 90db speaker would be the same as 350w on his current 86db speaker, and trying to use that much power on the current speaker is not very smart. So the only solution to his problem is a higher sensitivity speaker. The challenge will be to find one he likes that is in his budget, and can only be determined by listening."
This is just speculation because there's many other factors involve here besides what's in your quote. (Although I do agree with your last sentence.) What I can tell you for sure, is that the OP is going to have a moment of truth. He's going to hook up some equipment, listen to it and then make a decision as to whether he likes it or not. The only real question is going to be if he does this before, or after he spends a lot of money.
I must have missed what speakers the OP has because I thought this thread was to find a new pair. That said, you're not going win me over with specs like this. Given what was said in the earlier posts, it looks like we are in agreement that amp specs are very unreliable. Given that, if his speakers are rated at 100 watts, that still leaves me with the same question; who's watts are we talking about? Then to go on about needing 10x the power to get an additional 3db in volume. Of course, we all know that, and it sounds like a reasonable argument, but its not that relevant in this case.
"Do you really think that is suitable for his speaker? Sure he could get a 150w Ayre V5 like yours, and things may improve in dynamics, but not volume, and it's not in his budget."
Again, I'm not sure exactly what speaker we are talking about, but my answer is going to be almost certainly, yes. An Ayre like I have would probably be worth the extra money. Not to get too side tracked, but in my main system, I actually have 2 Ayre V-5's vertical biamping a pair of Vandersteen 2's. That's over 10k in amplification for a pair of 2k speakers. I'm a very big believer in the concept of putting my money where my mouth is. (And if you haven't noticed I have a pretty big mouth and it needs all the help git can get.) All I'm getting at here, is that I'm not telling someone to do something that I wouldn't do myself.
Back to comparing the Sony to the Ayre. My claim is that volume isn't the relevant factor here. Because at 10x power for 3db in volume, we're talking about total volume. Both amps can produce x db of noise. For a meaningful comparison, the volume of specific frequencies must be considered. Using a run of the mill, full range floor standing speaker, aprox 88-90db that doesn't drop too far down to make it a very difficult load, as an example. As the frequencies get lower, my Sony receiver will not be able to produce those frequencies at a consistently level volume. It will continue to struggle until at some point, it isn't even able to produce the frequencies at all. The Ayre, on the other hand, will have no problem driving the speaker at all frequencies. That's the real difference in power that you won't see by looking at the specs. Also remember that I'm not even touching on the subjective qualities, that at least for me, will justify the Ayre's price.
"Using his 140w amp on a 90db speaker would be the same as 350w on his current 86db speaker, and trying to use that much power on the current speaker is not very smart. So the only solution to his problem is a higher sensitivity speaker. The challenge will be to find one he likes that is in his budget, and can only be determined by listening."
This is just speculation because there's many other factors involve here besides what's in your quote. (Although I do agree with your last sentence.) What I can tell you for sure, is that the OP is going to have a moment of truth. He's going to hook up some equipment, listen to it and then make a decision as to whether he likes it or not. The only real question is going to be if he does this before, or after he spends a lot of money.